Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang couldn’t sound more different on the future of quantum computing.
Back in the spring, Huang rattled the sector when he claimed quantum computing wouldn’t be “very useful” for another 15 to 30 years, sending quantum stocks into a tailspin.
He later apologized saying he was mistaken and that the industry is at an “inflection point”.
Meanwhile, Nadella is going full-quantum with Microsoft. “The next big accelerator in the cloud will be quantum, and I’m excited about our progress,” he told investors in Microsoft’s July earnings call.
He went further, touting the company’s deployment of the “world’s first operational Level 2 Quantum computer” in partnership with Atom Computing.
And IBM isn’t sitting out either this summer. Big Blue declared it has the “most viable path” to a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.
🚀 D-Wave’s big year
As one of the few pure-play quantum small caps, Canadian startup D-Wave (QBTS) has become a go-to speculative bet on the sector.
Its stock is up nearly 86% in 2025, fueled in part by a March paper in Science claiming “quantum supremacy” on a useful problem, which is something no other company has demonstrated.
Analysts have jumped on board immediately,
Stifel initiated coverage this month with a Buy rating and a $26 price target, calling D-Wave a pioneer in commercial quantum annealing systems and highlighting its funding runway toward eventual profitability.
Stifel sees the overall market hitting $10 billion by 2030.
Piper Sandler also boosted its target from $13 to $22, keeping an Overweight rating. Analysts pointed to D-Wave’s 100+ partnerships with commercial and government clients as proof of growing demand.
💸 The missing piece: revenue
But not everyone is sold. Joseph Parrish, a widely followed Seeking Alpha analyst, raised concerns about when D-Wave will turn scientific milestones into cash flow.
“During the Q2 earnings call, management was clearly very excited about different projects and strategic efforts, but the main takeaway I got is that many of them are prospective and may only reward shareholders after a very long time,” Parrish wrote.
He pointed to D-Wave’s investments in advanced cryogenic packaging, technology seen as critical for building a 100K-qubit computer. It’s progress, but not a revenue driver anytime soon.